Dear Parents, Neighbors and Interested Community:

In recent weeks, some confusion has developed about the intentions and responsibilities between the Administration of the school and the Governing Board (the Board). Many rumors about the expansion plans have spread through the neighborhood and parent communities.  Past attempts to communicate the state of the expansion plans seem to have lead to further confusion.  In an attempt to clarify the position of the Freedom Preparatory Academy Governing Board we present the following information:

What Has Happened

The Governing Board voted to direct the administration to pursue expansion on-site with a 5-2 vote.  The board has directed the administration of the school to enter into negotiations for a contract to finance and build the expansion.  The board has directed the administration that it will consider any contract for on-site expansion provided that three criteria were met first:

1. A plan is presented to the board to adequately address traffic concerns in the neighborhood.
2. A plan is presented to the board to adequately address safety concerns associated with a single campus K-12 school.
3. Any contract presented has a guaranteed delivery date that allows the expansion to open in the fall.

While the contract is prepared and the traffic and safety plans are developed the board invites all concerned parties to give their input to the administration.  The administration will take them into account.

What Has Not Happened

A definitive decision to expand on site has not been reached by the board.  The board has directed the administration to pursue on-site expansion as the only viable option for opening this fall.  The board must still be presented with a contract and hear public comments before voting to enter into any contract.  Any motion to enter into a contract to expand must pass with a supermajority (6 affirmative votes).

What You Can Do

The administration is working hard to prepare the traffic/safety plans, and negotiate a contract to present to the board.  If you would like to help with this process, or if you have questions, concerns, or desire clarification on this topic please contact a member of the school administration.  Chris Helvey, Buddy Ivie, or Lynne Herring are the best resources to help you get involved. Feel free to contact the Governing Board about this issue.  However, the board is not involved in the daily affairs of the school.  While the board welcomes all input it is impossible for the board to respond to all correspondence.  Please do not take this as evidence that the Board is not listening to parent/neighbor concerns.  If a member of the board is able to personally respond, be aware that individual members of the board cannot speak for the board as a whole.  Any correspondence or actions by individual members of the board are the opinions and feelings of that individual and do not represent the intentions of the board as a whole.  Please visit www.pfa.cc/beta/about-us/expansion for additional information.  You will also find contact information for the administration and Governing Board at www.pfa.cc.

What Is Next

All activity of the Board is a matter of public record and must be conducted openly.  If the above criteria are met, and the administration chooses to, a contract may be presented for approval by the Governing Board.  If this happens, the Governing Board will schedule a meeting and notify the public in accordance with the Utah Open and Public Meetings Act.  At that time the board will hear public comments and debate on the subject.  If the plans are approved a motion may be put to the board, seconded, and voted on.  If the motion includes entering into a contract, a supermajority is required for the motion to pass, depending on the nature of the contact, as per theFreedomPreparatoryAcademybylaws.

Summary of Events

We arrived at this point through a series of events and decisions made by the Governing Board and Administration.  The planning for the expansion started nearly 3 years ago.  The original plans were well-researched, approved by the state, and called for an expansion on-site.  To try and accommodate neighborhood concerns the board directed the administration to look for locations off-site.  Eventually the building on 820 N was chosen as a temporary location.  The school signed a three year lease on the building.  The 820 N building was never intended to be the permanent home of the high school expansion.  A decision on a permanent location had not been reached.  It was anticipated during the next two years a permanent location for the high school would be found.  Both remote and on-site permanent locations would be considered.  During the last several months the situation with the expansion in the building on 820 N began changing.  As the costs for the retrofit began to grow, the owner of the building on 820 N had difficulty securing financing.  To help the owner secure financing, the Governing Board notified them that the school would be open to possible changes in the lease agreement.  At the end of March, as engineers and builders were able to enter the building, grave concerns were presented to the board and events started to move at a rapid pace.  Below is a summary of those events:

March 29

The Governing Board and School Administration held an emergency Board meeting.  On the advice of experts the school had retained to retrofit the building on 820 N, it was determined that the existing expansion plan was impossible to complete because of cost and time constraints.  The builder presented a possible plan to expand on-site that would meet the obligations the school had to parents and students.  The board directed the administration to notify the owners of the building on 820 N of our intent to nullify the lease unless written authorization of financing, and any subsequent changes to the lease were provided by the owner by April 6.  It was resolved that no action could be taken to change expansion plans until the owner of the building on 820 N had been notified and the lease had been nullified.  It was further resolved to quickly schedule a board meeting, once the situation with the lease of the building on 820 N had been resolved.  At that meeting the board would consider all available options for expansion, including expanding on-site, and significant neighborhood and public comment could be obtained.  Given spring break (April 9-13), and the need to meet with the builder, community members, and political leaders, the Board meeting was scheduled for April 18.

April 5

The administration met with Mayor Curtis to outline the difficulties that had arisen with the expansion plans on 820 N.  The Mayor was informed that the board would be meeting to review all available options, including on-site expansion.  A previous communication from the school mistakenly stated this meeting took place on April 16.

April 14

The administration sent a notification to allFreedomAcademyparents notifying them of the scheduled Governing Board meeting on April 18th at 6:00 pm

April 16

The administration met with the builder to discuss possible changes of building plans. At that time they suggested a three phase plan and offered financing based on our success, stability and achievements. A notification was sent to allFreedomAcademyparents notifying them of the subject of the Governing Board meeting.  The administration made several attempts to contact Brent Hall, the neighborhood chair.  These attempts failed due to technical problems emailing Brent.

April 17

A member of the board and the administration met with the neighborhood association chair Brent Hall. At that time we discussed what had transpired with the lease and our need to explore other building options.

April 18

At the Board meeting on April 18, after a tour of the grounds, the board was presented with reasonable expansion options including: portables, temporary buildings on-site, finding another location off-site, permanent expansion on-site, and abandoning expansion plans for the fall of 2012. The floor was opened to public comment as long as was desired by the attendees.  Twenty-one verbal comments were voiced, and several notes passed to the board, from neighborhood members, teachers and parents.  When public comments closed the discussion of the board focused on the viability of each option.  Some expressed concerns that while expansion was a good thing for the school, expansion on-site revealed three challenges:

• Additional traffic and parking concerns to the neighborhood.
• Safety concerns about the close proximity of the high school and K-8 school.
• Ability for any on-site expansion to be completed in time for the fall.

The first two problems dominated the public comments and the discussion by the board.  After lengthy discussion it became clear that the only viable option for expanding this fall would be to expand on-site. It was moved and seconded that the Board would direct the school administration to move forward with the high school expansion on the current location provided that we are able to

• negotiate an acceptable contract with our builder, with an acceptable delivery date that allows school to start at a reasonable time;
• a safety plan that adequately addresses safety concerns and,
• a traffic plan that adequately addresses and traffic concerns.

The vote passed 5-2.  There was discussion by the board as to whether this motion required a supermajority to pass.  The board felt that since the motion had not been to enter into a contract, but to pursue negotiations for a contract that a supermajority was not required.

April 30

Members of the administration and Governing Board met with local political leaders including Mayor Curtis and Senator Bramble.  The discussion centered on the process, the alleged lack of communication, and the perception that the school was moving ahead without conducting their due diligence with the neighborhood.  All agreed that it was not in their best interest to have unhappy neighbors.  There was discussion of looking for other alternatives other than building on site.  The Mayor offered to help accommodate the school as they look for off site options.  All at the meeting acknowledged the economic and time constraints and the pressure that the school is under to provide a facility for the students in order to provide a continued quality education for these students.  It was generally agreed, although no specific date or time was set, that there would be another meeting in a week or so.  The school agreed to move forward on two fronts:

1. Continue investigating the feasibility of building on site, and
2. Looking at other temporary and possibly permanent housing for these students off site.

Dear Parents, Neighbors and Interested Community:

In recent weeks,  some confusion has developed about the intentions and responsibilities between the Administration of the school and the Governing Board (the Board). It has been suggested that the Board is having meetings to plan the expansion of the school without public input. Also, some feel that emailing the Board without a quick response is evidence that the Board is not listening to parent/neighbor concerns.

In the matter pertaining to the Freedom Academy expansion, the Board directed the administration of the school to first adequately solve the traffic and safety issues and to, if the Administration chooses, come back to the Board with the next steps including a contract to be publicly debated and voted on. The Board is not involved in the daily affairs of the school nor is the board meeting or making plans about the expansion one way or another.

All activity of the Board is a matter of public record and must be conducted openly. Individuals on the board cannot speak for the Board or bind the board.  Anything a board member says outside of a formal Board meeting should be considered personal opinion and not official.  This is why messages sent to the Board often have no responses other than, perhaps, a thank-you note that it was received.

Please know that the Board, while retaining their varying personal opinions on the matter, is not single mindedly pushing one way or another. These issues have been a source of healthy, respectful debate among the Board in our meetings. It is our hope that these issues remain a source of healthy, respectful debate in our community, among our parents and neighbors as well.

Many members of our neighborhood want to help and assist, especially with the potential expansion project. Opinions are being shared and voices are being heard. That being said, we request that you continue to work with the administration of the school.

Summary:
The Governing Board is not involved in the daily affairs of the school. There have been a few key high-level meetings with city/state officials in which Board members have been in attendance at the request of those officials.  The Administration, however, is actively involved and may or may not request the board to consider plans for an expansion in an upcoming public meeting. It is in that meeting, in full view of all who attend, that all information, plans, contracts are to be fully disclosed, discussed, public comment invited, board debate, and, if a motion is filed, and seconded, a vote can be made to proceed or not.

The Board itself is not working on or against the expansion, though it should be noted that members of the Board have participated on various committees that involve the expansion. The Administration is responsible for any and all action until the next public board meeting. As we’ve stated, we hope you’ll take advantage of the Administration’s open door policy.

We invite you to attend the next meeting and bring interested people with you. We also hope you will continue to work with the Administration directly between now and the meeting, and afterward.

Thank you for your emails/petitions/letters.   We know that there are strong positions on both sides of this issue and we want to consider them.   At the last meeting the board decided to move forward and expand on the current location provided that we are able to:

• negotiate an acceptable  contract with our builder;
• with a delivery date that allows school to start at a reasonable time;
• a safety plan that adequately addresses safety concerns; and,
• a traffic plan that adequately addresses any traffic concerns;

The Board acts as a group and not as individuals.  We have your emails and will consider your input.  The Board will meet again to approve any contract in the near future and we will post notice of that meeting as soon as it is set at pfa.cc.  Until then, no further decisions can be made.

Thank you,

FreedomAcademyGoverning Board

Dear Parents, Neighbors and Community:

SUBJECT: URGENT! School Expansion Changes Announced – Please Read

Summary: The Governing Board is currently looking at moving the location of the high school back to our current property originally approved by the Utah State Office of Education.  This location would be at the far west end of our current school’s property provided that solutions are found to mitigate safety, traffic and parking concerns.

Critical events have occurred in the last two weeks that have jeopardized the long-planned expansion of the school into the 9-12 grades over the coming years.  The results of expert opinions, timing and an exploration of alternate options discussed at-length in Wednesday night’s public board meeting has brought us to this pivotal point in deciding the future of Freedom Preparatory High School.

What has Changed:
It was expected that the school would expand into the 9th grade next fall and take occupancy of a to-be-retrofitted office building on 820 N. just south west of the school. Within the last two weeks (April 6, 2012) it became apparent that the terms of that lease could not be met by the landlord.

As explained in the Governing Board meeting Wednesday night this week, the architects and engineers recently finished their studies.  Retrofitting the building (on 820 N.) to house students would be cost-prohibitive (over 3x original estimates). It became clear that moving to that property, as we have all been hoping for and expecting for many months, is suddenly and finally not a viable option and will not be possible.

As all available options were discussed, it became clear that:

1. The previously-proposed expansion site is not a possible option.
2. Portables on-site would not be plausible both because of the expensive-initial temporary costs to install them and unsightliness they bring.
3. We have explored many other options within close proximity, done research, financial analysis and considered economies of scale. We looked at it from all possible angles.
4. Expanding on-site is the only viable option for our 9^th grade students to begin in school this fall as previously approved by the State two years ago.
5. Timing: If we don’t expand this year, credibility of the school may be placed in jeopardy. Furthermore, not moving forward will effectively orphan the 65 (of 75 possible) committed 9th grade enrollees. They have already missed ideal registration deadlines for other local high school options.

Timeline of Recent Events:

• The Governing Board and School Administration held an emergency Board meeting on 3/29 at which point it was resolved to quickly schedule a board meeting where significant neighborhood and public comment could be obtained.
• Given spring break and the need to meet with the builder, the Board meeting was scheduled for 4/18.  Announcements of the meeting were sent out on April 14th and 16th to the parent community and surrounding neighbors.
• On April 16, we met with the builder to discuss possible changes of building plans. At that time they suggested a three phase plan and offered financing based on our success, stability and achievements.
• On April 16, we met with Mayor Curtis to update him on the problems with the lease at our planned 820 N. site.
• On April 17, a member of the board and the administration met with the neighborhood association chair. At that time we discussed what had transpired with the lease and our need to explore other building options.
• At the Board meeting on April 18, after a tour of the grounds, detailed review of the possible options (portables, find another location off-site, expand on our current property, and “do nothing”), the floor was opened to public comment as long as was desired by the attendees.  Twenty-one comments were voiced, which included neighborhood members, teachers and parents. Some expressed concerns that while expansion was a good thing for the school, expansion on-site revealed two major challenges, while others supported the expansion onsite.  The two areas prioritized:

• Additional traffic and parking concerns to the neighborhood.
• Safety concerns about the small high school (400 students which is significantly smaller than the other area high schools) on the same property as the current K-8 school essentially creating a K-12 school model.

• After lengthy discussion, it was moved and seconded that the Board would direct the school administration tomove forward with the high school expansion here at the present location, now and immediately pursue negotiations for a building and financing contract.  At the time the contract is signed the school would have developed plans for mitigating safety and traffic concerns. The matter was further discussed and a passing vote was taken of 5-2.

What is Next:

• A meeting of the Governing Board will be scheduled in the immediate future. Please watch for notification through standard channels (this email, pfa.cc, etc.).
• Public comment will be received at the meeting.
•  The contract and plans suggested will be reviewed by the Board.
• A decision will be made.
•  In the meantime the Administration is moving forward with the expansion plan as scheduled beginning with the student orientation meeting regarding the academic program for next year.

Get Informed

• This document will be posted online at http://www.pfa.cc/beta/expansion. Additional informationwill be gathered there. Also, information will flow through:
• Email Flash (ensure these emails go to your inbox, not junk!)
• Twitter http://bit.ly/PFAtweets
• For accurate information regarding this process, please come by the school, call or email any member of the school administration. They have an open door policy, and would be happy to answer any questions or clarify misunderstandings.

Thank you, 
The Freedom Academy Governing Board and Administration

Dear Parents:

As you probably know, Freedom Academy is growing and requires new facilities for students and parents who want the Freedom Academy college-prep experience beyond the eighth grade. The expanded school, as a whole, will be renamed to Freedom Preparatory Academy to reflect our college-prep vision and curriculum!

This letter is to inform you that critical, new information about our current expansion plans has recently come to light. The Governing Board has engaged various experts to perform due-diligence on our proposed building plans. We have been informed of problems that critically impact our current expectations and timeline for this fall’s enrollment in 9th grade. This requires immediate change(s) of one kind of another to our existing plans, including options which may include building on our current property.

As has already been announced, the Governing Board will meet this Wednesday, April 18th, 2012 at 6:00 pm, in the school’s library (unless additional room is required) for a public hearing on the matter including detailed explanation of the challenges facing our current plans and potential alternative plans. Members of the school administration and/or expansion committee will have already met with Provo’s Mayor and have attempted to reach out to the neighborhood chair.

The Governing Board will explain the situation in depth, ask for public comment on the matter before making any decisions, which need to occur soon, and may be decided at this meeting.

Please attend our board meeting this Wednesday if you would like to hear about or weigh-in on the 9-12th grade expansion.

Thank you,
The Freedom Academy Governing Board and Administration

• Agenda
• Minutes

2012 03 29 Governing Board Meeting Agenda

• Governing Board Meeting Minutes March 8

• Agenda
• Minutes

This promises to be a fun-filled adult-only night (Guys, a great way to celebrate Valentine’s Day in an exciting and creative way!), so get your friends ready to compete for great prizes and enjoy each other’s company.

If you like trivia, watching jeopardy, playing games with friends, or just like competing for prizes; then Trivia Night is for you.

The night will be filled with fun, food, trivia, and the opportunity to purchase great auction items. We are reserving tables of 8 adults for $80 or individual seats for $10.  You may currently reserve a table/seat by contacting the front office (Click here for contact info)

This event is sponsored by the sustainable fundraising committee and is a fun and easy way to generate additional funds towards our fundraising goals.

Click here for the flyer.

WHY A TRIVIA NIGHT?

Trivia Nights are a new successful venue in fundraising that is sweeping the nation. This is Freedom’s opportunity to be the first to introduce Trivia Night in this area. Trivia night originated in the Midwest where organizations have been raising substantial funds by simply having fun!

Click here to view the FPA Curriculum page